As soon as we enter, we’re met with an open foyer that leads into an even larger living space. A white couch with pink and purple pillows set up in the middle of the room and above is a skylight shining directly down on it. Air particles float around us as people shuffle with filming tools, adjusting the height, speaking into their mic-things, and returning my fully furnished smile with half ones.
“Ignore the crowd,” Irene settles down at the very end of the couch and points for us to do the same. “First days on set are hectic.”
“The rest of the days are too,” the other woman with a shiny smile says. “Filming is hectic overall.”
Irene laughs and goodness, even her laugh is rich. “You’re right. When I pitched this idea to my team, you should have seen their faces.” She looks directly at me with a welcoming smile. “They were ready to quit.”
That invokes a laugh.
Or two.
“Hina Mayumi,” a thick British and masculine voice channels from behind us. I turn my head to see a man walk down the stairs. His auburn hair is styled in perfect waves and his eyes have an overly friendly tinge to them. “And Nova Rivera,” he looks at me with the same kindness. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both.”
Irene audibly sighs. “Always the dramatist.”
“Kind of have to be, darling.” He winks at Irene, but she simplyrolls her eyes.
“This is Austin Kane,” saying with an arched brow. “I’d warn you to stay away from him, but he makes that impossible. He’s also the assistant producer ofLove? Check!”
Austin’s smile slips for a second. “I’m looking forward to season 3.”
He walks around the couch to greet both of us with an extended hand. Except he kisses the top of each.
The first thing I notice about him are his odd shoes.
Brown loafers with dark green laces.
What happened to buying normal shoes? All for the unique energy, but the colours don’t match. It looks like a dead root that failed to grow into a tree.
Sunny would be grossed out if she was here.
Heck, she’d probably punch the man.
“Kissass,” Irene mutters and it makes me choke.
“Only for yours,” he smirks. He undoes the button of his suit jacket before settling down on a loveseat. “As Irene was saying, we’re working together to produce a show that values complex relationships.”
“But our top priority,” Irene emphasises. “Is to make sure you’re as comfortable as can be.”
“If there’s something we don’t like, we can tell you?” Hina asks with the utmost boredom. She may have done this before which is why she seems disinterested in all of this.
My insides are jittery and even though I read the instruction paper more than fifteen times on the plane, I’m nervous as crap.
The space between Irene’s brows are pushed together when she says, “Of course. You can let me, or Austin know, and we’ll make sure that it doesn’t happen again, or we’ll delete the scene from airing.”
“And what about both of us showing up at the same time?” Hinatilts her head. “That has to be your fault.”I didn’t even think of that.
“It is,” Austin calmly says. “Sometimes mistakes happen, but I apologize. How about we make it so the two of you have never met before?”
“You want us to act?” I rub the back of my neck. “Doesn’t that sort of go against this being authentic?”
Austin laughs.
Am I missing something?
My cheeks burn. This is the perfect time for the couch to swallow me up.
“You’re absolutely right, Nova.” Irene offers another welcoming smile. “But sometimes we have to alter moments for entertainment. That can mean giving you guys scripts or directions for how we want the stories to go. Does that make sense?”
